2014-2015 School Year: Charting the Course

Analysis: 2014-2015 School Year
The post below was authored during the spring of 2014. Now a year Later, I've added a note to demonstrate which initiatives and efforts fared well, and those not met. Most goals set were met which demonstrates that this is a good planning process for teaching/learning.

Original Note

My primary focus of the year is to impact the science and math education of approximately 50 students from two classes. I'm looking forward to digging in deep and meeting this challenge with focus, care, and strength. I will put a great emphasis on optimal classroom choreography as I teach the year. This list will continue to be revised as the year ahead takes shape.

last updated 8/1/14

Summer 2014 Professional Learning:
Wayland Math Institute: Math Models, Unpacking the Standards 6/24-6/25, DESE Math Course	X
Update New Website. Complete Summer Reflections: Reflect for Success: Teach Well	X
Draft School Year Goals, Evidence Document	X
Revise “Learning to Learn” School Year Unit	X
Read Why Don’t Students Like School, This is Not a Test,  and Thrive	X
Read The Sting in the Tale to prep for ecosystem unit (did not complete this book)
Shop for supplies for ecosystem unit, landscape model materials, containers (keep and submit receipts!)	X
Read and Apply PARCC/Next Generation  Models and Standards to ongoing units.	X
Khan 5th Grade Level Math Review - will continue into school year	X
Read and Organize Science Standards and Units, post on science website.	X
Summer Math Study: Proportional Thinking, Prep Unit  (completed 3/5 of course, dropped out due to the fact that the course was not meeting my teaching needs after the third day)	X
Review Summer Study Links and Respond Periodically	X
Wayland Foundation Grants: K'Nex simple machine kits, Discovery Museum Grant (successfully obtained and integrating grant)	X
Room, Classroom Routines, Schedule, Class Culture Prep - Week of 8/27
Curriculum Night Presentation Revision (ongoing) Determine schedule, presentation organization with grade-level team. (successful)	X
Draft Scheduling and Weekly Pattern. Review and Revise Communication Protocols with grade level colleagues: weekly meeting times, IEP dates. . .Planning Field Studies w/Colleagues (a good weekly share and communication was established)	X
Meet with special educator, partner teacher review student services and schedules. Complete Assessment Forms (assessment forms served us well with regard to parent-student-educator communication)	X
Ordering: Check orders, put away all supplies.(supply process resulted in many orders unfilled--complicated and something that needs revisiting in 2015)	X
Room Set Up: clean, organize child friendly learning space.  see plan below. Make space for seed project, special place models. If possible include painting walls with whiteboard and/or magnetic paint. STEAM Stars Bulletin Board, Learning Objectives Bulletin Board (not enough space for these boards hence the information is online) (The room kept changing all year in order to teach well--need to reconsider room set up for 2015, a set-up that matches the assignment objectives well)	X
Review, revise, and set up Class Data Chart. Place progress report on website. (Overall the class website and data document worked well, I want to set it up to match standards a bit better in 2015)	X
Incorporate system-wide and school goals into overall year’s plan and efforts. (this goal was met)	X
First Weeks of School (School Year Plans)  Description of Plans
Scheduling continues, work on grade-level calendar with colleagues (overall good schedule)	X
PLC Start (terrific PLC work)	X
Curriculum Night: Establishing the Learning Community (good curriculum night, but I wish I emphasized routines more and gave parents some options for working with me on tech-ed connection with regard to student learning)	X
Early Year Assessments/Goal Setting   Complete Assessment Forms (Good process, but I'd like to complete assessments closer to the first days of school in 2015)	X
Review Parent Survey Results and Incorporate into Summer Planning (after parent night) (I want to create a more user friendly parent survey and pass out early in year)	X
Early Year Family Meetings (optional) (good option)	X
Evaluation Professional Learning and Practice Goals: Math Problem Solving/SMPs, Focus on Math Content Review with Evaluator (good to establish early and set up data charts, support materials for goals)	X
Learning to Learn Curriculum: Teach one lesson daily. (good start, needs revisiting and have to make more time to teach each piece of this curriculum for all classes)	X
Science Workshop What is a scientist? Introduce INSPIRE Establishing routines and mindset. Introduction to the tools of science. Science explorations. Start Ecosystem Unit Favorite Place in Nature Models and Share (good start, but requires more work)	X
Math Workshop Establish Routines Begin with facts, expressions/inequalities/equations, Problem Solving Strategies (see math website) Use SMP Unit roll-out for first unit: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities and “My Life in Numbers.” Initial Assessments Begin Computation Thread w/daily attention, individualized student efforts. (good work, but requires more development)	X
Biography Framework Start with George Washington Carver Begin STEAM Inspiration response books (trouble finding the time to keep up with this, important but we ran out of time)	X
Professional Learning
Daily Reading, Writing, Reflection, Planning (helpful and successful)	X
MassCUE October: Presentation and Attendance (complete administrative form for this) (good learning)	X
Educon 2.7 (terrific learning)	X
NCTM Conference, Boston 4/15-18 (this conference was replaced with Mahesh Sharma's fraction presentation)
ISTE: June? (not this year) (Attended the Teaching and Learning Conference instead.
Wayland Institutes STEAM: June--Yes! and Wayland Literacy Institute

ROOM PLAN SUPPLY NOTES

• Pully Station
• Recyclables: plastic bottles, glass jars for ecotariums.
• Hook base wooden or metal frame for hanging gardens.
• Raised bed grant proposal, supplies for spring event.
• Book sort, keep best books for class--store others.
• IKEA visit for detailed items.
• Home Depot visit for STEAM supplies. 

Application

We question.
We learn.
We apply.
We assess.
We reflect.
We revise.

Yet, it's not that neat.  Perhaps, it resembles this:

Or this:

Whichever it is, what and how we apply is important to consider.

Children Lead the Way

A wonderful image created by a student for our home study thread. 

Yesterday, I set a challenging agenda, and children responded with push back. It's the week before vacation, and many children have wonderful plans. Also, they have worked a lot during the past six weeks, and today's agenda was too big. Unlike adults who will speak up to let you know when you've asked for too much, children show their disapproval in actions rather than words.

Hence, a strong message to the teacher: "We need it a different way!"

So tomorrow, I'll head back in with a changed plan and focus for this week before vacation.  First, we'll have a meeting and explain that sometimes the plans just don't go well, and that means it's time to meet and make new plans. Then, I'll give them a chance to add their ideas about how we can continue to build and strengthen our wonderful class community.  I'll add my ideas too.

After that we'll do a lot of finish up work--finishing up math dialogues, reading responses, math tests, and other left over work from the weeks before.  It's a good time to clean up the folders and desks before we depart for a well-deserved week of fun.

At week's end we'll share Valentine's Day cards and vote for the Valentine's Day box winners. Despite the enormous pressure in grade schools today to prep for tests and get good scores, I'll do what I can to keep the focus on a happy child-centered balance--one that responds to their needs first, and all the outside mandates second.  That's a significant challenge for teachers in classrooms everywhere today.

Note: I'll also show this cute film from a couple of years ago too as a way to inspire their Valentine's Day box creations:

Prepping for Parent Conferences: How Do You Measure Success?

With much feedback from many quarters in education, how do you measure your success?

As I prep for another round of parent conferences, I am mindful of this question.

What will I share with families to demonstrate that students' are making gains at school?

I'll prepare a folder for each child including the following information:

• Students' recent self assessments.
• Reflections from the Culture Project
• Scores on recent math/reading standardized tests.
• Writing samples, scores.
• Recent math assessments.

I'll begin each conference with the question, Is your child happy at school?  We'll discuss any issues that may arise.

Next, we'll review the assessments and notes in the folder. 

After that, we'll talk about the needs going forward including students' needs for foundation skills, special projects, and any other areas of class life. I'll also check in with respect to students' school/home tech use.  Specifically I'll ask questions related to Khan Math, Xtra Math, our online Home study list, Google docs writing, eBooks use, and home tech resources. 

As far as success goes, I measure my current professional success by the success of my students.

Are they learning with engagement, happiness, meaning, and strong foundation skills?

Jack of All Trades, Master of None: The Elementary Teacher's Dilemma

Jack of all trades, master of none is the elementary school teacher's dilemma. As generalists, our work touches upon most subject areas and most departments in a school system--we answer to many, and that reality at times can cause confusion, varied paths, and discomfort.

What's an elementary school teacher to do?

The best answer I can think of is to continually prune the plan and set priority with regard to the work you do to personalize each child's path to academic, social, emotional, and physical success--a good start in life.

As I think of this, and prune the plan yet again, I will focus on the following:

Reading Fluency.  Forever the specialists have been knocking on our door to improve this area of children's academic life as fluency connects to comprehension and school success.  Our specialists have been sharing strategies, tools, and efforts with us.  I want to invigorate this part of classroom life.  I'll start with more research (ideas and links welcome), more time in the weekly routine, and more meaningful activities.

Writing Across Genre. Our grade level has put considerable, collective time into this effort this year and we've made great gains.  I'll continue this focus and work with my team.

Deeper Learning with Math. Last year we hit all the standards and built fluency in this area.  I integrated those efforts into this year's curriculum.  Now, I'll work to build greater depth utilizing the SMPs (Standards for Mathematical Practice), curriculum standards, more model making, lots of technology, considerable problem solving, and project base learning.  I plan to revise the fraction units I've been teaching to represent these constructs.

Passion-Driven Project Base Learning and Research: We'll end the year by applying our Deeper Learning MOOC research, students' interests and passions, related standards, and current curriculum into a worthy, updated project base learning endeavor.

The list of possible priorities for elementary school teachers is endless since we're responsible for almost all content, process, and skill areas.  I don't want to give up on this as I think the promise in this huge task is the fact that we can regularly integrate across discipline thus providing students with rich, interdisciplinary learning experiences, the kinds of experiences they will later use in the real world of learning and living.

1/2016 Update: Since writing this post, my school accepted a proposal for the grade five teachers to work as a collaborative team. Together we are creating a model that plays upon our strengths and deals with time and structure in creative, collaborative ways. This has reduced isolation, maximized our impact, and made the job more doable, successful, and satisfying. I recommend.